Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium

The port of Nagoya public aquarium is situated near the Nagoya-ko station close to the Nagoya port. This huge aquarium has a wide collection of aquatic animals residing inside. From the Nagoya-ko station a jetty with shops and restaurants on both sides will be leading to the port of Nagoya. At the port area, we could see ships, boats etc.

The “Fuji Antarctic Ice Breaker” ship is the most important attraction of this port. It has a helicopter boarded at the top of it. There is an entry pass for those who wish to enter inside and have a look inside the hue ice breaker ship. The shops and restaurants of this area are selling marine items. In the shops of the jetty area, we could see preserved fishes and other marine food items in large amounts.

The port has wide pavements leading to the entrance of the aquarium building. A lot of seats and chairs are arranged on the sides of the pavement facing the port. Visitors can rest there enjoying the sea breeze and take a rest after the visit.

The aquarium has two main buildings : the North and the South buildings. We could see the Nagoya-ko Seatrain land, a theme park aside the aquarium. The entrance of the aquarium is at the Northern building. Tickets are sold at the entrance of the building. We could see school student groups and families at the aquarium entrance. The tickets rate ranges from 500 to 2000yens depending on the age of the visitors.

The first floor of the building where we enter has huge glass walls on all sides, with the dolphins’ swimming up and down. The bottle nosed dolphins are playing in groups inside the Dolphin pool. Aside it is the Belugas or the white dolphins with some special appearance. It has a face resembling some animal and they are kept in the ‘Under the Northern light’ pool area. They are white in color and are small in numbers with continuous rapid movements.

The killer whales or the Orcas are huge animals and they are kept in another tank similar to the dolphins and belugas. At scheduled timings these animals will be fed and at that time the guide appears infront of these glass walls and explains various things about these creatures. There is a portion called the “Underwater viewing area” which has a number of stairs extending down and visitors could enjoy the movement of the dolphins sitting at these stairs calmly.

The second floor of this building has exhibits named as “Diverse World of Whales” with the skeletal systems of huge aquatic animals like whales and dolphins hanged from the top of the roof and various animal bone parts kept there with explanations. This area provides a lot of information about the aquatic animals for the students and knowledge seekers.

The third floor of this building is equipped with a wide gallery where the dolphin show is conducted. There is a huge screen that displays the motion of the aquatic animals on the stage as well as under the water. There are scheduled timings for the shows. The dolphins will be coming infront of us and wishing with a bow, then playing tricks like dancing, striking a ball etc. Along with them, some seals also appear on the stage with their tricks. The guides will be giving food and encouraging them after every play. Not only the dolphin shows, but also there are small shows by the Orcas or the killer whales. But the pools are smaller than the dolphin pool and they will be doing the training sections only. The dolphin show lasts for some 30 minutes.

From the top of the building we could see the 'Shiokaze plaza' where lots of people are resting in the lawn infront of the port.

In a portion of this building that connects with the southern part of the aquarium, there is a dark room with a replica of an Orca. At some fixed timings there is a small show explaining the inner body parts and the secret of movement of the Orcas done in Japanese only. But still, the lighting exaggerating each part and the movements make everyone to understand something about the Orca.

The second floor of the southern aquarium building could be accessed from the northern building. “Marine life around Japan” is the first exhibition area of this building. It starts with the “Kuroshio tank” containing Japan's own fishes. The silver sardines moving around with music inside the tanks in large numbers are really an amazing scene. A show named “The Tornado of Blue Pilchard” will be conducted here at specific times. Movement of the sardine groups with music to catch their food being thrown from the upper part of the tanks makes some sound accompanying the music as they move in shoals.

Along with the sardines, some rare varieties of fishes could also be seen in small numbers inside this tank. Then a small marine tunnel leads to the next portion of the building with small and big tanks of water plants, colourful fishes, jelly fishes, sea cucumbers, star fishes etc. The “Tropical Marine Life” area varieties of turtles, tortoises, crocodiles etc. is also situated in this building area. This zone extends to the third floor of this building also. The large Loggerhead sea turtles with cute eyes and wings floating in the water will be moving near the visitors on the other side of the glass wall. The “Australian Marine Life” has rare collection of marine creatures from Australian water bodies.

“Antarctic Marine Life” area recreated with an environment of the Antarctic region contains rocks and the snowy surroundings inside very thick glasses. Penguins are swimming and resting inside this area in large numbers.

The information area near the Antarctic zone has some penguin eggs and their replicas with detailed information about them displayed on boards. Also there are other information boards with the characteristics and other information about the penguins.

This building floor has a theater displaying a short film about he marine life during various seasons and regions. It also explains the evolution of the aquatic species through various eras. When we move to the ground floor of the building, we could see crabs, fishes, water snakes etc. kept in tanks. Coral reefs are also kept in various tanks of this area. Small and cute petting fish varieties are also displayed here. A touch tank with small ray fishes is located here. Visitors could touch these fishes as per the instructions given by the guides standing around. Here are some shops selling souvenirs and other items in this floor.